Cochlearia officinalis L. subsp. groenlandica (L.) A.E. Porsild
Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), Draba family.
Ill. Fl. Can. Arct. Arch. 92. 1957.
Cochleariopsis groenlandica (L.) Á.Löve & D.Löve,
Bot. Not. 128: 514. 1976.
Cochlearia fenestrata R.Br. in Ross, Voy.
Explor. Baffin's Bay, App. 143. 1819.
Cochlearia polaris Pobed, Nov.
Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 6: 99; 1970.
Cochlearia anglica auct., non L.
(1759); C. officinalis auct., non L. (1753);
?Cochlearia
pyrenaica sensu Á.Löve & D.Löve (1975), non DC. (1821).
Type: Not lectotypified. A possible specimen, part of the original material for Species plantarum, is available in LINN. It is nearly impossible from morphological evidence to be certain that it represents C. groenlandica and not a small and small-flowered C. officinalis.
Cochlearia arctica Schlecht.
C. officinalis subsp.
arctica (Schlecht.) Hultén
Cochleariopsis groenlandica
(L.) Löve and Löve subsp. arctica (Schlecht.) Löve and
Löve
Cochlearia oblongifolia DC
C. officinalis var.
oblongifolia (DC) Gelert
C. officinalis subsp.
oblongifolia (DC) Hultén
Cochleariopsis groenlandica
subsp. oblongifolia (DC) Löve and Löve
Cochlearia
fenestrata R. Br.
Vegetative morphology. Plants low shrubs, or mid shrubs; 2–32 cm high; which in the first year form a rosette of kidney-shaped, or rounded-deltoid leaves and in the second year flower on arched or decumbent leafy stems. Taproot present. Aerial stems erect, or decumbent; glabrous. Leaves heterophyllous; in a basal tuft; alternate; simple; existing for a single season or less. Petioles present, or absent (lower cauline leaves petiolate, upper sessile); 8–11 mm long. Leaf blade bases truncate, or cuneate. Blades 3–12 mm long; 2.5–11 mm wide. Blades herbaceous; ovate; with inconspicuous veins. Blades adaxial surface glabrous. Blades abaxial surface glabrous. Blade margins lobed, or not lobed. Blade margins entire; glabrous. Conspicuous hydathodes present. Leaf apices rounded.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems present. Flowering stems conspicuously taller than the leaves; with leaves; glabrous. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence absent. Inflorescence racemose; terminal, or axillary; main axis glabrous. Pedicels present. Flowers per inflorescence 15–20; small, less than 5 mm in diameter or length; actinomorphic. Calyx sepals 4; free; 1.8–2 mm long. Calyx green and purple; herbaceous; glabrous. Petals free; longer than the calyx; 4; white; without contrasting markings; obovate; unlobed; 2.7–3.2 mm long. Flowers bisexual. Stamens 6; filaments markedly unequal in length; free of the corolla; filaments glabrous. Anthers 0.2 mm long. Gynoecia superior. Carpels syncarpous; 2. Ovaries glabrous. Styles 1; thick and short; 0.1 mm long. Stigmas per style 1. Placentation parietal. Ovules 14–16. Fruit stalk 5–7 mm long. Fruit without calyx persisting; dry; a silique; ovoid (divaricately ascending); dehiscent. Fruit 3–5 mm long; 2–3 mm wide; yellowish and black; glabrous. Styles remaining straight; persisting in fruit 0.1 mm long. Seeds 14–16; 1 mm long; brown; with surfaces smooth.
Chromosome information. 2n = 14. Flovik (1940 Svalbard); Sørensen and Westergaard in Löve and Löve (1948 Greenland); Böcher and Larsen (1950 Greenland); Holmen (1952 Greenlandl); Löve and Löve (1956b Iceland); Löve and Ritchie (1966 northern Canada); Mosquin and Hayley (1966 northern Canada); Zhukova (1966, 1967 northeast Asia); Hedberg (1967 northern Canada); Engelskjøn and Schweitzer (1970 Bear Island); Engelskjøn (1979 Bear Island, Svalbard); Johnson and Packer (1968 northwestern Alaska, as C. arctica but within the area of C. groenlandica); Gill (1971, 1976); Zhukova and Tikhonova (1971 Chukotka); Packer and McPherson (1974 north Alaska, as C. arctica but within the area of C. groenlandica); Dawe and Murray (1981 northern Alaska, as C. arctica but within the area of C. groenlandica); Löve and Löve (1982 arctic Canada); Zhukova and Petrovsky (1984); Dalgaard (1989 W Grl). Ploidy levels recorded 2x.
Distribution. Northern hemisphere distribution: circumpolar; Greenland, Canada, United States, Eurasia. Arctic, or coastal. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago widespread. Common. Arctic Islands: Baffin, Devon, Ellesmere, Axel Heiberg, Parry Islands (Bathurst and Prince Patrick), Cornwallis, Banks, Victoria, Prince of Wales, Somerset, King William, Southampton, Coats (Ellif Ringes, Lougheed, Meighen, and Prince Charles).
Ecology and habitat. Substrates: wet meadows, hummocks, around the margins of ponds, depressions of low centre polygons, along streams, river terraces, ridges, seashores; acidic, or nitrophilous, or non-calcareous (It is adapted to growth in salty soil (halophytic) and is also nitrophilous (nitrogen loving), thriving in soils rich in nitrogen compounds such as near traditional nesting sites of seabirds or under raptor nests, near the edge of the seas. (Burt 2000)); rocks, gravel, till, moss; with low organic content, or peat.
Indigenous knowledge. Members of the genus are called Scurvy Grass and
the leaves are eaten raw or boiled as an antiscorbutic. The leaves are fleshy,
an adaptation that allows them to conserve water within the plant, and the shape
of the leaves is responsible for the common name ‘spoonwort.’ The
leaves are high in vitamin C, but not particularly tasty. The early sailors and
explorers who over-wintered in the arctic suffered from scurvy, caused by a lack
of vitamin C in their diets; they sought the scurvy-grass as a dietary
supplement. They even boiled it (with poor results) and made a
‘tincture’ of it (scurvy grass ale) by soaking it in vinegar or
alcohol (Schofield, 1989). A number of plants were called ‘scurvy-grass, so
this name in an early journal does not necessarily refer to this species.
Porsild (1950) reported that the somewhat peppery flavoured leaes when eaten
raw as a salad, or when cooked, are considered a vaulable antiscorbutic and as
such are mentioned in the narrative of numerous arctic expeditions; but the
scuvy grass is not eaten by either Eskimo of Chukchi.
Notes. Maessen et al. (1983) studied resource allocation strategies
for a range of vascular plant species of a high-arctic lowland oasis, located
adjacent to Alexandra Fjord, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. They found that patterns
of allocation of biomass and major nutrients (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) differed
greatly among the species which represented 6 growth forms (biennial herbs,
perennial herbs, graminoid-cushion plants, deciduous dwarf shrubs, and evergreen
dwarf shrubs). The dominant growth strategy was that of the stress tolerator,
well adapted to cold, dry, and exposed situations: a strategy characterized by
low annual net production, a small proportion of resources allocated below
ground, a large proportion of resources allocated to the attached litter
compartment, and internal nutrient cycling. Ruderal growth strategies were
evident in such species as Cochlearia and Draba (groenlandica)
oblongata, which occupied disturbed habitats. Plants of these species had a
large proportion of resources allocated to sexual reproductive tissue. Perennial
herbs exhibited intermediate strategies, and they occupied a wide range of
habitats.
Löve and Löve (1976) separated Cochleariopsis
from Cochlearia due to a different base chromosome number (7 versus 6).
There is almost no morphological difference. The chromosome numbers with base 6
might be aneuploid. Separation on two genera is against all 'good' taxonomy and
is not followed here. The Löve combinations must, however, be entered as
synonyms. There are very few good criteria for separation of the major arctic
plants (2n = 14, x = 7) from the European North Atlantic ones (2n = 24, x = 6).
From a morphological point of view it is difficult to retain them as species:
C. groenlandica versus C. officinalis s. str. A throught study of
the northernorthern European plants (C. officinalis, see Nordal 1986,
Nordal & Laane 1990, Nordal & Stabbetorp 1990) demonstrated an
eco-geographic differentiation currently recognized as subspecies. A similar
investigation of the arctic plants is still lacking and there may be
difficulties in separation between C. groenlandica and C. arctica.
Illustrations. • Plants in habitat. Flowering plant. Thompson River. Banks Island, Aulavik National Park, 11 July, 1999, Aiken 99–048. CAN. • Close-up of plant. Plant with procumbent flowering inflorescence, pink sepals and white petals. Note dark reddish sepals, but also green sepals and white petals, and somewhat succulent leaves. Banks Island, Aulavik National Park, 11 July, 1999, Aiken 99–048. CAN. • Plant habit. Plants growing on beaches and dunes, 6 miles west of N.W.T., Banks Island, Sachs Harbour, 25 July 1981, J.M. Gillett 18820. CAN. • Close-up of plant. Drawing by Mrs S. Bergh and Mrs L. Barstad based on a collection from Svalbard, Nordenskiöld Land, Green Harbour ardeborg, 15 Jul. 1924. J. Lid. (as C. officinalis, det. C. groenlandica R. Elven 1998). (If the diploids and tetraploids are separated at species level, this is the diploid occurring in the Canadian Arctic; the tetraploid C. officinalis sensu Linnaeus is European.)O 208833. With permission of the Botanical Museum University of Oslo, Norway. • Close-up of flowers. Flower showing sepals that are purplish on the outside and white inside, four white petals, and at the tips, six anthers, and one central stigma. Note the semi-succulent leaf. Banks Island, Aulavik National Park, 11 July, 1999, Aiken 99–048. CAN. • Herbarium specimen. Fruiting plant with fruit almost wider than long. Nunavut, Baffin Island, near Iqaluit, at Sylvia Grinnell Park, 26 July, 1990, D.F. Brunton, and K.L. McIntosh 9840. CAN 549941. • Arctic Island Distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad. 1999 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
